Amber Evangeline Valletta (born February 9, 1974) is an American model and actress.
Biography
Early life
Valletta was born in Phoenix, Arizona to a mother who worked at the post office.1 Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended Booker T. Washington High School. She got her start in the fashion industry when her mother enrolled her in modeling school at the age of fifteen at the Linda Layman Agency.
Career
Valletta has gone on to act in several films, been on the cover of magazines and in advertisements for Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Versace and hosted MTV's House of Style with friend and fellow supermodel Shalom Harlow. Valletta was scheduled to appear on Punk'd on Season 6 Episode 3, along with David Boreanaz and Kristin Cavallari, but the show's producer, Ashton Kutcher, had to move the prank played on Valletta to an episode later to make room for the prank played on Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens. She was also mentioned, fictionally, in Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries: Princess in the Spotlight as one of the guests at Mia's mother's wedding.
Personal life
Valletta is married to Olympic volleyball player Christian "Chip" McCaw with whom she has a son, Auden. Before this marriage, she dated Leonardo DiCaprio in early-1998. Her first marriage, in 1994, was to Hervé Le Bihan. They divorced in 1996. On August 24, 2006, her publicist announced that she was going into rehab for non-substance abuse issues related to stress and image problems.
Valletta also serves as the spokesperson for Oceana’s2 Seafood Contamination Campaign,3 where she brings awareness of the dangers of mercury poisoning in various kinds of seafood. The decision to join Oceana's campaign was prompted by the mercury-poisoning experience of a friend and the fact that she is a mother.
In August 2006, the New York Daily News reported that Valletta completed a stint at The Meadow rehabilitation facility in Wickenburg, Arizona, for stress and non-substance-related issues. Valletta told People magazine, "As was correctly reported earlier this week, my stay at The Meadows had nothing to do with substance abuse or addiction; I am pleased to say I have seven years' sobriety. But I continue every day to heal and grow as a person".4
In January, 2008, she participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by Will.I.Am called "Yes We Can" along with her son Auden, whom she was holding in her arms.
Filmography
Television
References
External links
